Holistic education is based on the premise that every individual finds purpose and meaning in life by being able to connect to the community around them, the natural world, and to spiritual values. This approach can be accomplished and maintained not through a solely "academic" curriculum but instead through direct engagement with the surrounding environment. Holistic education is meant to nurture a sense of wonder and is responsive to diverse learning styles and needs of all learners. This is why this kind of an approach is applicable to children from Kindergarten onward through to Grade 12. An excellent way of fostering a holistic approach is by encouraging students to engage in collaboration and cooperation rather than competition in classrooms. By using real-life experiences, teachers can kindle the love of learning.
Linking
A holistic education system requires people to acquire the information and to understand the information. But linking is the most important: linking the content learned and understood and applying it to the real world. For example, if one learns about the area of a circle, where in the world would one need to use this information? Where would people use some of these formulae? Further, how can you link the area of a circle to somewhere outside of the school setting? The application of what one learns is not always easy but it is important to see how the conceptual topics we learn about can be applied in real life. Teachers can teach students how to use math outside of the school setting and apply it to their daily lives. When students understand how this information that they have learned can be applied accordingly, then this will likely increase their chances of becoming more intrigued in what they learn about. Applying all of the lessons and making sure students can apply links and use the information out in the real world will enable them to understand why their learning is actually important in their lives.
Benefits of Holistic Learning
A holistic curriculum enables children to investigate and discover the world around them based on their interests, not what they are "accustomed" to learning about or must learn. A holistic curriculum considers the "whole" child, which includes all developmental areas engaged with interaction and experience provided for the learner.
According to researcher John Martin Rich, "We must learn the values and the aims and the hopes of human beings as they operate within a particular situation" (Rich, 2008, p. 332). The teacher can prepare for this "through the integration of new experiences and ideas that enable the student to gain greater self-mastery and assume increasing responsibility for his [or her] own education" (Rich, 2008, p. 332). The teacher, in this case, helps the student gain "self-mastery" by learning each student's diverse learning style and interest and work within that framework to help animate the child's life experiences. By understanding each student on a more closer level, the teacher will be in a better position to help that student grow not only academically but socially as well. If the teacher understands the student's thoughts and feelings, the teacher can incorporate various activities and differentiate instruction accordingly to make each and every student understand the academic "holistic" curriculum and also themselves.
Main ideas of holistic education:
Importance of educating and focusing on a child's wholeness within themselves
Integrating students with other cultures and with others outside of the classroom
Important that we focus on the internal world, the "whole"
Any student on any given day at any time will need a certain environment to grow in - and this is where holistic education comes in
Some people have gotten stuck to traditional rigid ways, but we must realize that there are individuals who learn differently
A traditional learning environment cannot meet everyone's needs, so holistic education enables students to learn how they learn best; each student's learning journey is their own and each of their unique potentials and experiences come into play in the classroom
A teacher must be able to assess if there is growth, and that growth must be individualized = the importance of goal-setting
Understanding that unfolding potential and the students' relationships to what they are learning about
Curriculum is often handed down, but what happens when a student doesn't like the topic? What happens if they are not engaged in what they are learning? This is where holistic education comes in
Approaches and practices that are different from traditional teaching:
Student-centered - focused on students' interests and students play a huge role in constructing curriculum with the teachers and setting policies and procedures within the school
Students should feel like they are being heard
Democratic approach - to experience this and experiencing this kind of an environment is a key strategy in holistic education = focusing on experience
It is a living system, built with partnerships between teachers and administrative offices and families: it is organic
Goal is for people to actually feel a part of something and to have that voice
Authentic and genuine relationships between students, teachers, and the surrounding community
Less about degrees and certificates and more about getting to know the person
Teachers are looked at as advisers, friends, mentors, as opposed to authoritative figures
Teachers and students are learning together
Students are not handed a curriculum but instead are building it together
Journals, reflecting, collaborating...onouring the whole person as well as the families too
The voice that the student, family, and teachers have is what is unique about holistic education
Mahmoudi, S., Jafari, E., Nasrabadi, H. A., & Liaghatdar, M. J. (2012). Holistic education: An approach for 21 century. International Education Studies, 5(3), 178-186.
Exploring Holistic Approaches in Education
What is a Holistic Approach?
Holistic education is based on the premise that every individual finds purpose and meaning in life by being able to connect to the community around them, the natural world, and to spiritual values. This approach can be accomplished and maintained not through a solely "academic" curriculum but instead through direct engagement with the surrounding environment. Holistic education is meant to nurture a sense of wonder and is responsive to diverse learning styles and needs of all learners. This is why this kind of an approach is applicable to children from Kindergarten onward through to Grade 12. An excellent way of fostering a holistic approach is by encouraging students to engage in collaboration and cooperation rather than competition in classrooms. By using real-life experiences, teachers can kindle the love of learning.
Linking
A holistic education system requires people to acquire the information and to understand the information. But linking is the most important: linking the content learned and understood and applying it to the real world. For example, if one learns about the area of a circle, where in the world would one need to use this information? Where would people use some of these formulae? Further, how can you link the area of a circle to somewhere outside of the school setting? The application of what one learns is not always easy but it is important to see how the conceptual topics we learn about can be applied in real life. Teachers can teach students how to use math outside of the school setting and apply it to their daily lives. When students understand how this information that they have learned can be applied accordingly, then this will likely increase their chances of becoming more intrigued in what they learn about. Applying all of the lessons and making sure students can apply links and use the information out in the real world will enable them to understand why their learning is actually important in their lives.
Benefits of Holistic Learning
A holistic curriculum enables children to investigate and discover the world around them based on their interests, not what they are "accustomed" to learning about or must learn. A holistic curriculum considers the "whole" child, which includes all developmental areas engaged with interaction and experience provided for the learner.
Holistic education takes into account six major considerations:
Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/benefits-of-holistic-learning-early-childhood
According to researcher John Martin Rich, "We must learn the values and the aims and the hopes of human beings as they operate within a particular situation" (Rich, 2008, p. 332). The teacher can prepare for this "through the integration of new experiences and ideas that enable the student to gain greater self-mastery and assume increasing responsibility for his [or her] own education" (Rich, 2008, p. 332). The teacher, in this case, helps the student gain "self-mastery" by learning each student's diverse learning style and interest and work within that framework to help animate the child's life experiences. By understanding each student on a more closer level, the teacher will be in a better position to help that student grow not only academically but socially as well. If the teacher understands the student's thoughts and feelings, the teacher can incorporate various activities and differentiate instruction accordingly to make each and every student understand the academic "holistic" curriculum and also themselves.
Main ideas of holistic education:
Approaches and practices that are different from traditional teaching:
Further resources and references:
Mahmoudi, S., Jafari, E., Nasrabadi, H. A., & Liaghatdar, M. J. (2012). Holistic education: An approach for 21 century. International Education Studies, 5(3), 178-186.